News and AnalysIs for

Juan Pablo Ruiz is my favorite Colombian environmentalist because he is completely rational, completely pragmatic without losing one bit of his passion and commitment. Recently, he wrote a pair of columns directed at Colombia’s future president that touched on the strategy of reducing demand or supply of fossil fuels. I might have written them or at least something like them.

The National Environmental Licensing Agency (ANLA) presented the development of new technologies and instruments designed for environmental licensing in Colombia.

The ACP issued a press release on the last day of its Grand Forum which covered events of the day but also wrapped up the major themes. We have already covered Day 2 so here we translate the broader ideas and provide our own commentary.

The Minister of Environment (MinAmbiente), Carlos Eduardo Correa, spoke about the Fracking Pilot Projects (PPII).

Oil prices were up again last week, Brent closing Friday at US$111.70 (according to FT.com). This is not a record or even a record for the period since Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine on February 22^nd. But the 13-week Moving Average hit US$102.36 for the first time in almost 8 years and the 52-week moving average was US$81.52 for the first time since 2015, nearly seven years. These signals may mean some changes in producer and consumer behavior. But probably not yet in Colombia on the consumer side.

The mining sector reaffirmed its commitment to face climate change and promote the energy transition during the second Latin American Mining Meeting (Elami).

Ecopetrol (NYSE: EC) significantly reduced its emissions in recent years.

A recent New York Times (NYT) article quoted Anthony Leiserowitz, the director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication calling the phrase “energy transition”, a “floating signifier”, going on to define this as “a blank term that you can fill with your own preferred definition.” Since MinEnergia talks about energy transition a lot and it seems to define current policy, this seems to be an important discussion.

BP recently published its annual Energy Outlook, its long-term forecasts of major energy-related variables. Among the major points is the oil major’s view of peak oil demand and peak gas demand.

I am just back from a major technology conference and I happened to read a Thomson Reuters study about downstream and technology. These got me thinking about the role of technology in “greening” the industry.